I don’t know what I think about this. From Deadline Hollywood: Mel Gibson has been set by Warner Bros to direct The Wild Bunch, a new version of the 1969 Sam Peckinpah-directed classic Western. Gibson is writing the script with Bryan Bagby. Gibson will be executive producer. In The Wild Bunch, an aging group of outlaws look for one last big … [Read more...]

For many years, the Hawken Rifle had the reputation of being “The Mountain Man’s Choice.” That’s largely thanks to the classic 1972 movie Jeremiah Johnson (the first movie I saw in a theater). At the opening, the narrator explains that Johnson sought a .50 caliber Hawken Rifle before heading alone into the Rocky Mountains. “He settled for a … [Read more...]

I am fond of bastards. Truly. I love the way the word rolls off the tongue in a Tom Russell song, the way Breaker Morant bellowed it into the muzzles of a Cameron Highlander firing squad. And I am always sympathetic to the illegitimate sons of empire. One of the areas of frontier history that fascinates me most is the mingling of peoples in … [Read more...]

• I neglected to mention the Coen Brothers’ anthology film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival where it earned Best Screenplay honors. Netflix drops it upon us in November. The Hollywood Reporter offers a synopsis: The Joel and Ethan Coen film, which was directed, written and produced by the brothers, is … [Read more...]

Wayne Williams scouted up story that drives an arrow right through the ol’ Frontier Partisans Barbaric Splendor Cortex. The Nomad Games ran at the beginning of September and the whole thing just makes the heart soar. The New York Times reports: CHOLPON-ATA, Kyrgyzstan — The American team that played a brutal version of polo at the World Nomad … [Read more...]

Sisters Folk Festival 2018 is history. After a gut-punch cancellation in 2017 due to the smoke impacts of the Milli Fire, it was a grand thing to be back, and stronger than ever. Ceili’s friend Odin and his mother Shauna joined us — which was a very great pleasure. The Clan works hard through the weekend. I manage a venue and emcee, and assist … [Read more...]

Et tu Texas? Deuce Richardson scouted this up — from the Dallas Morning News: AUSTIN — A panel advising the State Board of Education on what seventh-graders should learn in their social studies courses has urged deleting the label “heroic” from a curriculum standard about the Alamo’s defenders… …Current seventh-grade social studies … [Read more...]

A giant has packed his possibles and trekked out to Frontier Partisan Valhalla. Edwin R. Sweeney might seem at a glance to be an odd candidate for any Valhalla. He was, after all, an accountant by trade. But the counting of beans was by no means the measure of the man. The man who rode into the final sunset yesterday, September 6, 2018, was the … [Read more...]

The Clan has been catching up to Yellowstone on Paramount on-demand. We’re enjoying the hell out of it, in all of its over-the-top, soapy glory. As you all know, Taylor Sheridan — who directs, writes and is executive producer on Yellowstone — is probably the contemporary creator most in line with my sensibilities. Sicario; Hell or High Water; … [Read more...]

• The Clan is pulling up stakes again. Our landlord has decided to remodel and sell the place where we’re living now, so we’re fixin’ to move this fall. Fortunately, Marilyn and I are entirely simpatico on our goals and desires for the move, and delight in the opportunity to pare down yet again. We figure it’s just another step along the trail to … [Read more...]